A lifelong love-affair with animals

Nancy Stephens

She was born Nancy Manley on March 25, 1956 in Vandalia Illinois.

Nancy's first pet recollection is of Henry a pet chicken she had at age 12. The family lived on a farm during her junior high school and high school years. There she learned to care for animals ... from feeding and cleaning up after them to helping medicate them and give them their inoculations. It was the start of a lifelong love-affair with animals of every type.

At age 21 Nancy left home. She worked for John Crane Inc for the next 28 years. While working in the factory she was a molder, an inspector, and a trim operator.

Her only child, a daughter Michele Rhodes was born in 1981. Nancy passed on her love of animals to the child. The household had, at various times, pit bull dogs, cats, a macaw parrot, a conure and a lovebird, cockatiels, reptiles and a hedgehog.

The year 2000 was a very difficult one for Nancy. She had surgery on her foot. After returning home, she was awakened one night to find her house full of smoke. The terrible fire left her home in ruins. She escaped with her life, but did not work for 18 months.

In 2001 Nancy began an internet romance with the man who would be the love of her life: Bill Fonner. Their correspondence led to a meeting. Within a day of meeting Nancy, Bill told her that he thought he had fallen in love...

Two weeks after his declaration of love, Bill quit his job, moved out of his home and obtained employment in Vandalia in order to be closer to Nancy.

The couple pulled up stakes and made a life-changing move in 2002. Bill found what they thought would be a better job in Las Cruses New Mexico, but they only stayed 4 months. As Nancy says, "The only thing of value that occurred there was that we got Blue?" their blue budgie.

From there they moved to Springtown, a small community a half hour from Ft. Worth Texas. They were to spent a year there but ultimately moved from there as well.

In 2003 the couple came to Arizona and decided that this was where they wanted to settle. They moved to the small southeastern Arizona town of Benson and began looking for work. They found a job opening at The Oasis Sanctuary on an internet site called America's Job Bank. It was only one job, so the couple agreed to split the hours until more work became available. Almost immediately Bill's expertise with mechanics and farm equipment provided him with a full time position. Nancy worked four days a week. The couple drove the 45 minutes each way to and from Benson to work for a year. In March 2004, in time for Nancy's birthday, the sanctuary provided the couple with onsite housing. Shortly before moving, Nancy acquired Mikey, a silver-grey miniature poodle.

Nancy lists her likes and dislikes as follows:

• She loves birds --- her favorites on site are Murphy, Cookie, Fanny, Ruby and Roman.
• She dislikes rattlesnakes.
• Her favorite hobby is gardening and her humming bird feeders.

At work she loves feeding and watching the herd of feral javelina, as well as helping with any orphaned animals such as the calves and lamb who arrived last year.

In early 2004 Bill began to have back and shoulder pain. In July of that year he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Although given only months to live, Nancy's beloved Bill became dubbed the "miracle man" by the medical community when he survived two years.

Bill Fonner passed away on May 14th 2006 at the age of 50.

Bill's overriding concern when diagnosed with his illness was that Nancy have a home and a job with The Oasis. Nancy intends to remain with the Oasis, the place she considers home, with the critters and friends she now considers family.